Austria vs Serbia

Austria and Serbia are set to trade tackles in the first leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final tie at the Ernst Happel Stadion.

Austria missed out on automatic top-flight promotion by a thin margin as a gut-wrenching 1-1 draw against Slovenia on the final matchday condemned them to a runner-up finish in Group B3 behind Norway! However, the Austrians could secure a second foray into the Nations League’s top table with a win against Serbia, a team they’ve defeated across their last two H2Hs, including a 2-1 victory in a friendly less than a year ago. The abovementioned draw against Slovenia knocked ‘Das Team’ off the top spot in their Nations League group. Furthermore, it halted a three-game winning streak, featuring consecutive home wins against Norway and Kazakhstan via four-goal margins! Meanwhile, it extended an exciting trend that has seen eight of Austria’s last nine matches in this competition produce ‘both teams to score.’

In the meantime, Serbia’s maiden campaign in the Nations League’s A division failed to produce much joy as they finished third in Group A4 behind Spain and Denmark. Indeed, Dragan Stojkovic’s men only won once in six games (D3, L2), ominously failing to get on the scoresheet on four occasions. That was barely surprising after the Eagles’ dismal Euro 2024 campaign, which saw them bow out in the group stages with a single goal to their name (D2, L1). Despite drawing a blank twice in their last three away matches (D1, L2), the visitors can draw heart from the fact they found the net in eight of their previous nine Nations League road trips.